Pakistan committee to meet in Peshawar today to sight Ramadan crescent

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will meet today, Monday, for the sighting of the crescent for the holy month of Ramadan, state-run media Radio Pakistan reported. 

The beginning of the ninth and holiest month in the Muslim calendar, as well as the Eid holidays and the mourning month of Muharram, are determined by the sighting of the new moon in Pakistan. Every year, the cleric-led Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee announces when fasting should begin in the South Asian country.

Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, wherein Muslims abstain from food and drink from sunrise till sunset for a month.

“A meeting of the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will be held in Peshawar today for sighting the crescent of Ramazan 1445 Hijri,” Radio Pakistan said in a report.

The meeting will be presided over by Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad who will make the announcement regarding the Ramadan moon, based on testimonies received from different parts of the country, according to the notification.

State-run media said meetings of the zonal and district Ruet-e-Hilal Committees would be held at their respective places. 

Monday, March 11 corresponds to Shaban 29, 1445 in the Islamic calendar. If the Ramadan crescent is sighted on Monday evening, then Ramadan will begin on Tuesday, March 12. If not, the holy month will start on Wednesday, March 13.

The holy month has already begun in Saudi Arabia, after the Ramadan crescent was sighted by astronomers from the Majmaah University Astronomy Observatory Department in Riyadh on Sunday. 

Joining Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE have also confirmed that Ramadan will begin on Monday. Ramadan in Oman, Indonesia, Australia, Malaysia, Brunei and Iran will most likely begin from Monday.